Pipe fitting and testing apparatus.



PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

w. VANDYERMAN. 'PIPE FITTING AND TESTING APPARATUS;

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1903.

H0 MODEL.

'I I I /I/I//II/IIIIIII/ m: NORRIS Perms o0. wormlmav. WASHINGTON o. c.

UNITED STATES Patented; March 22, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM VANDERMAN, OF WILLIMANTIC, CONNECTICUT.

PIPE FITTING AND TESTING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,082, dated March 22, 1904.

Application filed May 21,1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM VANDERMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Willimantic, in the county of Windham and State of Connecticut, have inventedcertainplumbing in buildings and appurtenant there-- to; and the objects of my invention are to pro- .vide a device of this class to which ready acsection through. the same.

ces's may be attained without disturbing the plumbing, in which the regular water-pressure may be utilized for the purpose of test or for flush or forcing purposes, and one in which the system may be readily relieved of .fluid after a test has been made.

A form of device in the use of which these objects may be attained is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view broken away and showing the adaptation of my invention. Fig. 2 is aview in lengthwise vertical section through the fitting. Fig. 3 is a view in cross- Fig. i is a side View, partly in section, of my improved testp ug.

In devices of this class which have been employed prior to my invention a diflicultyhas been encountered from the fact that ready access could not be attained for testing purposes and also from the fact that the test-plug could not be readily inserted for testing purposes. All of these objections are overcome by my improved device, in which the letter a denotes a fitting the end I) of which opens toward the plumbing in a building and the end 0 of which opens toward the sewer, the device being illustrated as in use for the purpose of testing the plumbing in a building. This fitting maybe provided with a hub and a spigot end for the attachment of sections of pipe and is also provided with an enlarged portion d. This enlarged portion has a chamber e,.the width of which is equal to or greater than the diameter of the pipe. A wall f is formed at each end of this chamber, a Waterway being formed through said walls and the lower part Serial No. 158,130. (No modem of the *wall at each end of the chamber terminating in a shoulder 9, extending completely around the opening into the chamber. It will be noted that this shoulder g, in the preferred form as shown herein, is in line with the wall f. 'I do not, however, limit my invention to this location of the shoulder, as it is obvious that this shoulder may be differently located and come within the invention so long as it provides a hearing or valve-seat extending entirely around the opening. The upper edge of this enlargement has a groove h extending around the edge, and a cover 4 has a flange k adapted to rest within this groove. The groove is of greater width than thethickness of the flange, and the flange is so located on the cover that access may be had to the groove outside of the flange for the insertion of a calkingtool. It is also to be noted that the flange is has its outer surface arranged substantially at right angles to the plane of the cover and parallel with the walls of the groove, while the rear surface of the flange is tapered or beveled. It is also to benoted that the inner wall of the I groove adjacent to the tapered side of the flange 7c is higher than the outer wall of the groove. There is a particular advantage in tapering the flange on the side adjacent to the high wall of the groove. The groove is filled with molten lead or like material, and when the calking-tool is driven into the lead on the outer side of the flange it is forced downward and backward and up between the tapered side of the flange and inner wall of the groove. Each forms an :absolute wedge and hermetically seals the opening and at the same time does not prevent the removal of the cover. A packing Z, of fibrous material, may be located between the upper inner edgeof the projection and the surface of the cover inside of the flange, if desired; but themain and important packing m is located in the groove and consists of material, as lead, which may be poured into the groove after the cover has been placed in position and secured, as by means of bolts, as shown. I The construction of the flange allows of a calking-tool to be readily inserted for the purpose of tamping the lead into place and forming a tight joint, as above described,

when the lead is forced back of the flange of I00 the cover to hermetically seal the chamber. In practice the cover is ordinarily put in place and the lead poured about it at the factory, The cover may then be removed without disturbing the lead, and when the connection is put in place in the ground and the cover applied thercto the calking-tool applied to the lead will drive it back in wedge form beyond the flange 7;, thus sealing the chamber.

Projections w from the'cover receive screws 0, which pass through threaded openings in said projections, the lower ends of the screws abutting against the pipe section. These screws are employed for the purpose of foreing the cover from its seat. In forcing the cover from its seat by this means the lead is left practically intact in the joint, and when the cover is again replaced the same packing may by the use of a calking-tool be tamped into place now again securely closing the joint. It is of course to be understood that proper means, as bolts and nuts, as shown, may be employed to hold the cover in place.

A tube (0, preferably threaded as to the whole or greater portion of its outer surface, is provided with a connection b, to which is also connected a pipe 0. This tube is also provided with avalve cl, which is used for the purpose of controlling the flow of Water through the tube. On one end of the tube and fitted to slide freely thereon is a disk 6, provided with a gasket or washer f to serve as a packing. of the disk for the purpose of properly locating it on the tube and for locking it in position, if desired. On the opposite end of the tube a strut it is located. This preferably consists of a piece of suitable material comparatively narrow and of a length to extend across the opening out of the chamber 6. This strut is also slidable upon the tube and is provided with a set-nut i. This set-nut fits upon the threaded outer surface of the tube and is provided with means, as projections whereby the nut may be turned to force the strut against its seat. A guard-nut l may be employed, if desired, to hold the strut in place upon the structure.

In the operation of the device, as for testing the plumbing in a building, the plug is inserted in position as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The pipe 0 is connected with the regular water-main, and a valve in the connection may be employed for admitting water into the system within the building,-the valve d being closed. After the test has been completed the V2Ll"6 d is opened and the water from the system flows readily through the,

opening into the sewer, after which the plug may be removed. If it is desired to remove an obstruction in the sewer, the device is reversed and the disk 0' located against the shoulder in the chamber next to the opening in the sewer. The regular water-pressure may then be employed for forcing any ob- Nuts 9 are located on each side struction, or any other force may be applied through the pipe 0, the valve (Z of course being closed.

It will be noted that the shoulders against which the disk 0 and the strut 71, are located are in such position within the chamber that the test-plug may be readily inserted, these shoulders forming, in fact, a part of each end wall of the chamber. These shoulders and their location within the chamber form an important feature of my invention, the shoulder extending entirely about the mouth of the opening in the pipe at each end of the chamber, so that little care is required in locating the strut. In many instances, as where the fitting is located below the surface of the ground just outside of the walls of the building, the opening to the fitting is of considerable depth, in which case it is practically impossible for a person to employ both arms for the purpose of locating the strut and for operating the set-nut to secure the plug in place. By my improved construction the device can be readily lowered, as by a cord, if desired, and the formation of the shoulder as described enables the strut to be secured in place in any position in which it may happen to be when the plug has reached a point between the ini let and outlet openings into the chamber. The set-nut can then be turned to place, as by means of any desired tool, which may be provided, if necessary, with a long handle.

The rectangular opening to the mouth of the chamber of a width greater than the diameter of the openings into the pipes is of special advantage in that it allows the plug to be readily inserted and placed in any desired position that is, a plug can be lowered through the opening in a horizontal position and need not be put in endwise and then turned after it is located in the chamber.

VVhatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A pipe-fitting including a section of pipe having a lengthwise opening, a chamber intersecting said opening with a shoulder extending completely around the chamber at the entrance of the lengthwise opening thereto, said section also having a lateral opening of a dimension lengthwise of the section as long as that of the chamber and means for closing the lateral opening.

2. A pipe-fitting including a section having a lengthwise opening and a chamber intersecting said opening with a shoulder at each end of the chamber, each shoulder extending completely around the lengthwise opening thereto, said section also having a lateral opening of a dimension lengthwise of the section as long as that of the chamber, and means for closing the lateral opening.

3. A pipe-fitting including a section having a lengthwise opening and a chamber intersecting said opening with a shoulder extending about said chamber at the entrance of the lengthwise opening thereto, said section also having a lateral rectangular-shaped opening as wideas the diameter of the lengthwise opening into the chamber, and means for closing the lateral opening.

t. A pipe-fitting including a chamber with openings through each end wall thereof, a groove extending about the main opening into said chamber, a cover having a flange arranged to extend into said groove and having its inner surface beveled, means for securing the coverv in place and a packing filling said groove about the flange and adapted to be calked whereby said packing will be wedged between the beveled face of the flange and the wall of the groove.

5. A pipe-fitting including a chamber having openings through each end wall thereof, a groove extending around the main opening into the chamber, a cover having a flange extending about the outer edge thereof and adapted to project into said groove, a packing filling said groove aboutthe flange and adapted to be calked, said flange having its inner face beveled whereby the calking of the packing will cause the wedging action of said calking between the flange and groove.

6. In a pipe-fitting, in combination, asection having a chamber with openings through each end wall thereof, a shoulder extending around said openings, a test-plug including a disk and a strut adapted to rest against said shoulders, means for securing the disk and strut, a tube projecting through said strut and disk, a pipe-connected with said tube and a valve located therein, and means for closing the main openinginto the chamber.

7. A pipe-fitting including a section having a chamber with an opening through each end 4 wall thereof, a shoulder extending around each of said openings, means for closing the main opening into the chamber, a pipe-fitting including a disk and a strut adapted to rest against said shoulders, a tube extending through and slidable within an opening in the disk and strut, means for securing the disk in position, a set-nut appurtenant to the strut, a pipe connected with the tube, and a valve controlling the opening through the tube.

8. A pipe-fitting including a chamber having openings through each end wall, a projeoting lip extending about the chamber and forming a groove between .the lip and wall of the chamber, a cover provided with a flange, said flange and wall of the chamber when in place forming a tapered recess, a packing filling the groove about the flange and adapted to be calked, said flange and groove being relatively arranged to permit access to the packing.

9. A pipe-fitting adapted for use in the discharge of a water system, said fitting includ ing a section having a chamber with a shoulder at one end, a valve adapted to fit said shoulder within the chamber, means for forcing the valve against the shoulder, and means for introducing a fluid through the valve.

' 10. A pipe+fitting including a section adapted: for use in the discharge of a water system, said section having a chamber with a shoulder at each end thereof, a test-plug including a valve and a support each adapted to rest against one of said shoulders within the chamber, means for forcing the valve and support against their respective shoulders and means for introducing the fluid through the valve.

WILLIAM VANDERMAN. Witnesses:

ARTHUR B. JENKINS, IRMA P. OOFF N. 

